Peyrus and Julien are also rendering some of the Languedoc’s most adventurous and successful whites, and their 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc Manon – blending Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Clairette, Rolle, Macabeu, Roussanne, and a touch of Muscat – is a fascinating delight. Aromas of linden (basswood flower), musky narcissus, and lime zest lead to a silken, rich palate that seems to have benefitted from the cleanliness of new wood and an exchange with air, without acquiring any overt oakiness or sacrificing brightness and refreshment. White peach, tangerine, lime zest, and inner-mouth floral perfume linger, along with suggestions of chalk dust. Enjoy this over the next 12-18 months. (I found an oddly pronounced alkalinity as well as a hint of drying in the finish of the otherwise impressively-concentrated 2006 Coteaux du Languedoc Manon slightly off-putting.) Christophe Peyrus and Francois Julien had only recently assembled the majority of their 2007 reds when I tasted with them in December, and that collection is as exciting as past experience with Clos Marie and recognition of the potential of this vintage would lead one to expect. “Ripeness came early and homogeneously,” says owner-winemaker Peyrus. “The harvest was very rapid, and the evolution of the wines has been precocious.” Yet even under these conditions, potential alcohol seldom exceeded 14.5% even for the blocks of Grenache, a circumstance Peyrus attributes to his biodynamic methods of cultivation. He is also a partisan of vendange entier (the inclusion of whole clusters in red wine fermentation – in his case generally at least 50%) and says the stems were thoroughly ripe (i.e. lignified) in 2007. It’s a measure of the excitement that within fifteen years, this estate has ascended from obscurity to the top echelon of French wine addresses. There is never a lot of new wood in this dripping-wet cellar, although much of what there is, interestingly, comes from Austrian barrel-maker Franz Stockinger. (The 2007 reds had never been sulfured when I tasted them – that happens here only at bottling, and then only very judiciously.)Imported by Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800 and Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 559 1040